New York Times White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny, UW-Madison Journalism Professor James Baughman, Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders and the Editors-in-Chief from both The Daily Cardinal and The Badger Herald shared their opinions on the idea of objectivity and what it means to be ""biased"" at a panel Tuesday.
The panel was moderated by UW-Madison graduate and Assistant News Director for WTDY Madison 1670 Dusty Weis, who has been active in covering the controversial budget repair law.
Baughman said defining ""bias"" is complicated, explaining it ""involves deliberately misstating facts and stating something that is not true.""
""It occurs when one gets calls and corrections, yet continues to say it,"" he said.
Zeleny added bias is also evident in what we don't cover.
""It is ignoring people or not covering essential parts of the story,"" he said.
Zeleny said he strives to be a ""down-the-middle newspaper reporter."" He said he encourages writers to cover both sides and to not assume that one side is right and the other wrong.
Bargnes said The Badger Herald's attitude toward political opinions in the newsroom has changed dramatically since his first days working at the newspaper.
""When I first started it was incredibly taboo in the news department to even mention the kind of views you held politically,"" Bargnes said. ""We have changed since then. Today, you are almost even better off knowing every individual's opinion.""
Lueders, author of ""Watchdog: 25 Years of Muckraking and Rabblerousing,"" agreed and said fairness is essential to quality reporting, yet it is possible to have an opinion and still be balanced.
""It's appropriate for journalists to have a sense of perspective,"" Lueders said. ""You can pass judgment and still be fair.""
Zeleny said it is not enough for journalists to provide balanced news. The public must also be active participants in news by consuming and criticizing it, he said.
""For now, it's all about personal responsibility. People have to be interested in what's going on in their society,"" Zeleny said. ""We could make news accessible and available, but at some point there's a limit to what newspeople can do.""
The panel was part of the first annual Madison Lit Fest, a week of events celebrating literature.
